After having pedaled a lot on the beautiful Tortoreto Lido cycle path, I decide to go up to Tortoreto Alta. A town rich in history and art awaits me after a challenging climb that should not be underestimated which takes me to 230 meters above sea level. Cyclists here are welcome, you can understand it from the assistance column and the illustrative picture complete with gpx to download online.
As soon as you arrive, you immediately notice its structure of a medieval village: a central fortress surrounded by high walls on which a magnificent tower rises the Clock Tower.
The tower, the access doors, the narrow streets, the bridge with the characteristic vaults, testify to the existence of the castle of Tortoreto. One of the reasons that brought me here is to fix the restaurant for tonight to taste the arosticini. I set a table for four and the owner explains to me that the historic center is divided into three parts: TERRAVECCHIA, TERRANOVA and the BORGO.
TERRAVECCHIA represents the most ancient nucleus of Tortoreto, rebuilt, in all probability, on the ruins of "Castrum Salini", it became a fortified castle with the drawbridge (of which the loopholes in the front of the Clock Tower remain), the walls, the towers, the underground passages and the palaces of the feudal lord, the churches and the houses of the nobles.
TERRANOVA was the new castle with few access gates, the towers at the corners of the city for defense and the narrow streets to allocate more space to the houses.
The BORGO developed outside the castle walls around 1400, on a ridge and perpendicular to the coast: it ended with a natural terrace overlooking the sea.
During the Middle Ages, Tortoreto became a fief under the Normans; Several feudal lords followed one another until the territory from the end of 1300 passed under the control of the Acquaviva dukes. At the end of their dominion, Tortoreto passed under the control of the Kingdom of Naples until 1860, the year of the unification of Italy. After the Middle Ages, the population reversed the migratory flow as there was no need to fortify itself. Therefore, construction began in the flat area of the coast and around 1800 the first settlement of Tortoreto Lido was built, along the current Via Carducci that leads from Tortoreto Alta to the sea.
The restaurateur invites me this evening to arrive a little earlier and visit the town, and above all not to forget the CHAPEL OF THE MADONNA DELLA MISERICORDIA, a real pictorial jewel.
In the evening I will have confirmation that what he said was true, the small village houses an authentic Renaissance pictorial jewel: the chapel of the Madonna della Misericordia, dedicated to San Nicola di Bari, the most valuable monument of the town.
The walk through the village is a pleasant discovery of panoramic points, medieval glimpses and a lot of hospitality offered by the numerous restaurants that, in the historic center closed to cars, set the tables along the road making everything magnificent.